First Church of Christ
Scientist

The Manual

By Mary Baker Eddy

The Church of Christ, Scientist:

Section #1: Qualifications For
Membership

To become a member of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, the
applicant must be a believer in the doctrines of Christian Science,
according to the teaching contained in our Christian Science textbook,
Science & Health by Rev Mary Baker Eddy. The Bible, together
with Science & Health shall be his only textbooks for self-instruction
in Christian Science.

The Bible + Science and Health

"Your dual and impersonal pastor, the Bible, and Science
and Health with Key to the Scriptures, is with you; and the Life
these give, the Truth they illustrate, the Love they demonstrate,
is the great Shepherd that feedeth my flock, and leadeth them
'beside the still waters.'" Mary Baker Eddy

Through prayer, Mrs. Eddy found an answer to this need. In 1894
she appointed a new and unique pastor for The Mother Church, one
that didn't depend on personality at all. Instead, it was an impersonal
pastor consisting of two books-the ones to which she'd dedicated
her whole life.

First, the Bible, the book she'd turned to since childhood
as her guide for living and worshipping God.

Second, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, the
fruit of her lifelong study of the Bible and the complete statement
of the Science of Christianity that she'd found there.

Then, in April of 1895, Mrs. Eddy made these books the pastor
not only of The Mother Church but also of all its branch churches.
As she wrote later to The Mother Church, "Your dual and impersonal
pastor, the Bible, and `Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,'
is with you; and the Life these give, the Truth they illustrate,
the Love they demonstrate, is the great Shepherd that feedeth
my flock, and leadeth them `beside the still waters' " (Miscellaneous
Writings, p. 322).

In 1903, Mrs. Eddy extended the authority of "The Christian
Science Pastor" to the whole world. She wrote in the Manual
of The Mother Church, "I, Mary Baker Eddy, ordain the Bible,
and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Pastor over
The Mother Church,- The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in
Boston, Mass.,-and they will continue to preach for this Church
and the world" (Manual, Art. XIV, Sect. 1).

Why two books?

Doesn't the Bible alone show us the way to eternal life? Yes,
it does. But humanity had the Bible for close to two millenniums
without fully understanding how to use its truths in a scientifically
provable way to heal and regenerate people like Christ Jesus did.
To arrive at that kind of understanding, humanity needed to comprehend
the Bible on a deeper level. They needed to "unlock"
the Bible, so to speak. It was the specific mission of Science
and Health to give the world this "key" to the Scriptures-to
open up their treasures and enable everyone to use them.

But would Science and Health alone be a fully sufficient pastor
for the world? No. Having the Christian Science textbook without
the Bible would be sort of like having a key without a door, a
house without a foundation. Science and Health was built on Scriptural
truth. It was in the Bible that Mrs. Eddy discovered the laws
of God, the Science that undergirded Jesus' healing ministry.
As she explained in the textbook, "The Bible has been my
only authority" (Science and Health, p. 126).

(Excerpted from Mary Metzner Trammell, "A pastor for the
world," The Christian Science Journal, May 1994.)